Urbanarium City Debates
City Debate #18: MASS TIMBER IS NOT WORTH THE RISKS
Mass timber is widely touted for it’s potential for speedy, low carbon construction. However, market acceptance in BC remains elusive. Do the risks (cost, supply chain, trades, maintenance etc) outweigh the benefits? Our panel debates the position: “Mass timber is not worth the risk(s)”.
Organized by: Urbanarium,
UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Sponsored by: UBC SALA, The Faculty of Applied Science
Pro
Dr. Adam Rysanek
Dr. Adam Rysanek is an Associate Professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and co-directs the UBC Master’s of Engineering Leadership in High-Performance Buildings. Dr. Rysanek’s research centers on strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation. He has guided low-carbon demonstration projects in the UK, Singapore and Canada, most recently the Third Space at UBC.
Graham Brewster
Graham is Senior Director of Development at Wesgroup Properties. He leads Wesgroup’s mass timber exploration and execution with an eye to build better buildings faster while also understanding and sharing the complexities of innovation in development. This has led to the founding of the Western Mass Timber Alliance: industry sharing the challenges of mass timber with a “tree-to-key” understanding.
Con
Shawn Keyes
Shawn is the Executive Director of WoodWorks BC and a structural engineer with deep expertise in mass timber. Before joining WoodWorks, he spent nearly a decade in consulting at a leading design firm. Shawn holds masters degrees in both engineering and business, and serves on several mass timber advisory committees.
Jana Foit
Jana is a Principal and Higher Education Practice Lead for the Vancouver studio of Perkins&Will. She has over two decades of experience and has led several mass timber projects that include the Earth Science Building and Gateway Building at UBC, as well as the under construction BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing project.